Santa Clara County Biographies
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
JAMES H. LYNDON
Los Gatos Pioneer- Sheriff, Mayor and Postmaster
Surnames: MURDOCK, LEE , NICHOLS, RYLAND
A faithful, efficient public official, whose record for unchallenged
public-spiritedness and personal bravery, and also for exceptionally high
integrity, was such that his name will always be held in esteem, was the late
James H. Lyndon, for more than forty years a resident of Los Gatos, and from
1894 to 1898 sheriff of Santa Clara County--than whom, perhaps, there never was
a doughtier, or one more deserving of the wide popularity which he enjoyed. He
was born in Grand Isle County, Vt., on May 6, 1847, the son of Samuel and Polly
Caroline Lyndon, with whom he lived until he was sixteen years of age, attending
the fashioned Yankee home. Then in 1863, he made his way to Burlington and
enlisted in the Fifth Vermont Infantry, where he was promptly rejected by the
inspecting officer on account of his age. The next year he succeeded both in
getting to Massachusetts and in getting accepted as a member of Company I,
Twenty-first Massachusetts Infantry, after which, with some 300 other recruits,
he was sent to Galloupe's Island, in Boston Harbor, and from there, after six
weeks of drill, dispatched to Annapolis until the middle of April, when he was
ordered to join his regiment at the front; and, marching by way of Washington,
D. C., he and his comrades overtook the second Division of the Ninth Corps, near
the Rapidan, just before the battles of wilderness. He participated in these
battles and in those of Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, in which latter
engagement his regiment suffered heavy losses; and after the battle of Cold
Harbor, the Ninth Corps was ordered to City Point, where for several months the
Army of the Potomac invested Petersburg. After the capture of several of the
outposts, with heavy losses, the city of Petersburg fell, after a siege of
several months.
From Petersburg of the Army of the Potomac followed Lee's army for several days,
the Ninth Corps going as far as Farmville, which they reached on April 8, 1865,
and the next day, General Lee surrendered his army to General Grant, which
practically closed the war. The Ninth Corps lay at Farmville for about a week,
when it was ordered to City Point, where, after a week or ten days, transports
were furnished them and they were sent to Alexandria, Va. They remained just
back of that review of the armies of Grant and Sherman in Washington, in which
James Lyndon participated; and after that he went into camp again for two or
three weeks, when his regiment was ordered home, and he was mustered out and
given his honorable discharge at Reedville, Mass., in August, 1865.
Mr. Lyndon then, with a natural yearning for the scenes of his boyhood, returned
to his old home in Vermont; and in 1866 he attended the Academy at Alburg
Springs and for two terms supplemented his schooling. California and its lure
had seized his imagination; and in December, 1868, he started via the Panama
route, arriving in San Francisco January 23, 1869. His brother, John W. Lyndon,
who was James' senior by eleven years and had come out to California in 1859,
had preceded him to Los Gatos and had established there a lumber yard, where
later James hurried to Los Gatos and accepted a position as clerk in John's
employ. In 1872 he bought his brother's business and ran it for a year, when
John bought an interest in it, and returned to his former activity; a year
later, James sold his interest to John, and embarked in hotel management at the
Ten Mile House, later known as the Los Gatos Hotel, which he made more and more
famous as a hostelry, until he sold out in 1875. He again clerked for his
brother, remaining with him until 1883; but in that year he set up in the lumber
business for himself near the depot in Los Gatos, which business he continued to
manage for years.
Mr. Lyndon was best known, perhaps, particularly in San Jose, as the
broad-minded Republican sheriff of Santa Clara County, an office he filled most
creditably. Under President Harrison, he was also postmaster of Los Gatos, and
he had the honor of serving as the mayor of that law-abiding town, and he was an
active member of Los Gatos Lodge No. 282, F. & A. M., and of Ridgley Lodge, I.
O. O. F., and he belonged to the ancient Order United Workmen; he was past post
commander of the E. O. C. Ord Post of the G. A. R.
At San Jose, on August 12, 1873, James H. Lyndon was married to Miss Anna J.
Murdock, a native of Ontario, and she and five of their children who still
survive, cheered by their lives and affection the sturdy pioneer when he
breathed his last, on March 28, 1912, one of the most widely known and
best-beloved citizens of the county. These worthy sons and daughters are: James
Lloyd Lyndon of San Jose; William W. Lyndon of San Francisco; Clarence H., Mrs.
Ray Lyndon Lee, and Mrs. May Nichols of Los Gatos, and Mrs. Hazel Ryland of
Oakland. Santa Clara County today owes much of its present prosperity and
greatness to men like Mr. Lyndon, for by enduring hardships and indefatigable
work and true optimism they paved the way that the future generations may enjoy.
Mr. Lyndon was very active and energetic and was ever to be found a leader in
the vanguard of progress.
Transcribed by Marie Clayton, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara
County, California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 403
JAMES H. LYNDON
James H. Lyndon, son of Samuel and Polly (Carline) Lyndon, was born
in Grand Island County, Vermont, May 6, 1847, where he lived with his parents
until seventeen years of age, and attended the common district schools. In
1863, when sixteen years old, he went to Burlington and enlisted in the Fifth
Vermont Infantry, but was rejected by the inspecting officer on account of his
age. The next year he went to Massachusetts and enlisted in Company I,
Twenty-first Massachusetts Infantry. He, with some 300 recruits for the
regiment, was sent to Galoups Island, in Boston Harbor, where they remained
about six weeks, when they left for Annapolis, Maryland, to join their regiment,
which was attached to the Ninth Army Corps, commanded by General Burnside. They
remained in Annapolis until the middle of April, when they were ordered to join
their regiment at the front. Marching by way of Washington city, they joined
their regiment in the Second Brigade, Second Division of the Ninth Corps, near
the Rapidan, just before the Battles of the Wilderness. He participated in
these battles, and in those of Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, in which latter
engagement his regiment suffered a heavy loss. After the battle of Cold Harbor
the Ninth Corps was ordered to City Point, where the Army of the Potomac
invested Petersburg for several months. After the capture of several of the
outposts, with heavy losses, the city of Petersburg fell, after a siege of
several months. From Petersburg the Army of the Potomac followed Lee�s army for
several days, the Ninth Corps going as far as Farmville, which they reached on
the eighth of April, 1865, and the next day General Lee surrendered his army to
General Grant, which practically closed the war.
The Ninth Corps lay at Farmville about a week, when it was ordered
to City Point, where, after a week or ten days, transports were furnished them
and they were sent to Alexandria, Virginia. They remained just back of
Alexandria, near Fairfax Seminary, until after the grand review of the armies of
Grant and Sherman, in Washington city, in which he participated. After this he
went into camp again for two or three weeks, when his regiment was ordered home,
and was mustered out at Reedville, Massachusetts, in August, 1865.
He then returned to his old home in Vermont, and in 1866 attended
the academy at Arburgh Springs, Vermont, for two terms. In December, 1868, he
left home for California, via Panama, and arrived in San Francisco January 23,
1869. He came at once to Los Gatos, where his brother John was engaged in
business, and began to clerk for him in his store, where he remained till 1871.
In 1872 he bought his brother�s store and ran it for a year, when his brother
bought an interest in it, and a year afterward he sold his interest to his
brother John and went into the hotel business, keeping the hotel known at that
time as the �Ten Mile House,� now the Los Gatos Hotel, where he remained until
1875; he then sold out and again went into his brother�s store as a clerk, and
remained with him until 1883, when he sold his store. He then engaged in the
lumber business near the depot in Los Gatos, which business he still follows.
He is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Ridgely Lodge, I. O. O.
F., a member of the A. O. U. W., and Past Post Commander of E. O. C., Ord Post,
No. 82, G. A. R.
Mr. Lyndon was married August 12, 1873, to Anna J. Murdock, a native
of Ontario, Province of Quebec. They have five children, viz.: James Lloyd,
born June 9, 1875; William Welden, June 14, 1878; Frances Ray, September 4,
1881; Clarence Hardy, March 15, 1883; Anna May, November 2, 1884.
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California,
Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company,
1888.
Pg. 303-304
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
Proofread by Betty Vickroy